hi, everyone. i'm tamron hall. "news nation" following developing news. president obama on his way back to washington for a strategy meeting with democratic senators to layout what politico describes as a "plan to save the senate." the president will reportedly brief senators on details of his state of the union address, which by the way is in 13 days. it's a move considered unusual this far before the speech and ensure senators he has plan for democrats to keep control of the senate in 2014 including fixing issues with the health care law and raising money for democratic party committees and comes on a defeat of a bill to extend unemployment benefits to more than 1 million americans. the electoral map favors the gop which needs six seats to take back the majority. speaking at north carolina state

in the last hour, the president picked up on a theme he unveiled yesterday that he'll move ahead on his 2014 agenda with or without congress. >> it's so important that we can't wait for congress to solve. where i can act on my own without congress, i'm going to do so. today i'm here to act. to help make raleigh-durham and america a magnet for good high tech manufacturing jobs that a growing middle class requires and will keep this country on the cutting edge. >> nbc news capitol hill correspondent luke russert joins us. the president and administration calling this a year of action. speaker boehner responding to what the president said his willingness to go it without congress. >> reporter: speaker boehner said if it's a year of action, move on such things like the keystone pipeline and other gop jobs bills in the house.

partisan rhetoric we expected on this issue. what it welcomes down to is what democrats will run on in 2014 and that's populism. they have a dark cloud hanging over their head with the problems with the health care law. however, in this year, 2014, while the health care law is presenting some challenges, it's not as bad as it was last year. they have gotten out of the wilderness as much as they're going to get on that. what is this idea? the idea of populism. talking about issues that pertain to students and talking about issues that pertain to young, unmarried women and interest group within the party tent to talk about that. the president will do that in the state of the union. that's what this meeting is about and their strategy is about. what's gop going to do? they'll want to talk about obamacare as much as they can and tie that to the economy not being where the president said

it would be five years ago. populism they believe on senate side is enough to save them from losing six seats. they have to lose one or two of those. >> as you know part of the strategy is fund-raising. i pointed out that politico article the necessity of the president to get out and help some of those members of the senate who may be in jeopardy and who need that cash coming in for these tight fights. >> reporter: absolutely. it's a fine line to walk. president obama is not popular in the states where red state democrats are up for election. where he is popular is the atm machine and what he can bank. 20 fundraisers for dnc last year. throughout his career he hasn't been this involved in fund-raising for the party but he's upping it. last thing i'll say this. not to be too inside baseball. the white house made a hire that a lot of folks on capitol hill said was a smart one.

that's lady that is now their legislative director taking over for a gentleman who was named mr. rodriguez who didn't have warm relations with either party on the hill. her baby is trying to get the president involved, white house resources involved and she's trusted by chuck schumer and harry reid and nancy pelosi to make this one large democratic party a fund-raising machine to get on the same page so there's no division within the party heading into what will be a contentious midterm election in november. >> thank you for those details. joining me live now, senator ben cardin of maryland. one of the democratic senators who will meet with the president in a few hours. he's a member of several key senate committees including the finance small business and foreign relations committee. thank you so much for your time. >> my pleasure to be on. >> i know you expressed your words, outraged, that the senate missed another opportunity to bring economic stability to millions of americans when republicans blocked two democratic proposals to extend long-term unemployment benefits. >> this is hard to understand.

the extension of unemployment benefits should be a no-brainer. it should be automatically done. it's been done under democratic and republican administrations without much fanfare and republicans are holding off an opportunity to extend those benefits. it's not only hurting families that will lose benefits, who have lost benefits, but also hurting our economy and it's just wrong and we're going to continue to try to bring this up and get it done. it should have been done. >> what does this say here we are the first few days, first weeks of this new year and an idea or a necessity for so many americans is again pushed to the wayside. i guess what i want to get to the heart of is the end of 2013, a number of lawmakers saying we feel optimistic. there will be a deal when we're talking about 1.3 million americans and here we are nothing again. >> well, i think it's the republican party that's paralyzed. they keep fighting among themselves. here they use every excuse

imaginable to deny people unemployment benefits and they're using excuses to do it. ultimately i think we'll get this done. >> why do you believe that? you just laid out the case why gridlock will remain if there's infighting within the republican party and the president willing to take action out congress met with hostile language. what makes you optimistic? help me understand that. >> first, millions of people who are impacted by the loss of these benefits and impact on our economy. i think americans are getting it and they understand this. if you look at the polls, they recognize that we need to do what's right for the families that are unemployed. they also need to know we got to pass increase in the minimum wage, that's another issue coming up shortly. we have to deal with job growth in this country and help manufacturing. these are key issues to the americans. i think you're going to find that the -- you mentioned popularity before. it is populism but also right.

>> just today speaker boehner said the president says he wants to make this a year of action. he can start by calling on leaders over in the senate to pass our jobs bill. he can start by approving the keystone pipeline and tens of thousands of jobs it will create. again, back to the question if democrats are onboard and they are pushing an increase in minimum wage trying to help these people who are still in need of their benefits here, what makes you believe that republicans will get onboard? >> well, speaker boehner is talking about a very special interest issue. the reason is this. first of all, we'll fight to get things done in 2014. the american people expect us to do that. we'll try to get as much done as we possibly can. right now the republicans on the wrong side of history and on the wrong side on economic issues and we're going to do everything we can to get matters done in 2014. >> just quickly, i know you're part of the meeting with the president, the strategy meeting and battle to hold onto the senate. what would you like to hear from

him today? >> i think the president will talk about our economy. he's going to talk about jobs. he's going to talk about manufacturing. he's going to talk about education and investing in america's job growth and quite frankly, you're going to see a lot of unity between president obama and the democrats in the senate. >> thank you, senator cardin, for your time. we appreciate it. following developing news out of the pentagon right now where an investigation is being launched after the publication of some graphic photos that appear to show u.s. marines burning the bodies of iraqi insurgents. these images were obtained by the gossip website tmz and nbc has chosen not to show them. this preliminary investigation will look at the validity of the photos and determine where and when they were taken. if there's enough evidence, a more widespread investigation will take place. to more developing news this hour, u.s. officials tell nbc news that the u.s. has obtained a new "proof of life video" of american soldier who disappeared

from his base in afghanistan, you might recall, back in 2009. he's the only u.s. service member held captive by enemy forces. u.s. officials say they intercepted a thumb drive last week that contains the video showing a frail, shaky bergdahl. the taliban offered to release bergdahl in exchange for five taliban prisoners held at guantanamo bay, military officials believe he's being held hostage by a network in neighboring pakistan. u.s. military officials say this latest video is proof that he is still alive. still ahead, the husband of a pregnant texas woman he says is brain dead is in a legal battle with the hospital who refuses to take her off life support. the hospital says it is following texas law as it relates to pregnant patients. a new round of subpoenas

expected in the chris christie bridge gate scandal tomorrow. we'll talk with a columnist who says the governor is too smart not to know what was happening. plus -- >> everyone on the board is here for one reason and one reason only. to protect the king. >> a story of inspiration. actor cuba gooding, jr., joins us to talk about his new film. it surrounds the life of an ex-con who brought the game of chess to a group of at-risk teenagers. we'll talk more with him about this movie and the mission. you can join our conversation on twitter. you can find me @tamronhall. ♪ ♪ ♪

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the husband of a pregnant

woman in texas whose family says she has been brain dead for seven weeks is suing the hospital that is keeping her on life support against her family's wishes. marlise munoz has been on a ventilator since she collapsed in late november from what her family says may have been a pulmonary embolism. she was 14 weeks pregnant at the time. her husband and her parents say that she did not want to be kept alive by machines. the hospital says it is following a texas state law that says life support cannot be removed from a pregnant patient. but tom mayo, a law professor at smu, who helped write the statute, says the hospital is misinterpreting the law. he says if munoz is brain dead, she is legally dead and therefore not a patient. with me now, msnbc legal analyst kendall coffee and joining us, kathryn taylor, a lawyer at

drexel university. thank you both for your time. at the heart of mr. munoz's lawsuit is that his wife is not a patient. he says marlise can't be a pregnant patient. marlise is dead. he further argued that she should not be subjected to further treatment simply because she's pregnant. he says it's a gross violation of her constitutional right. what do you make of this case here? >> i think he makes a very good claim here. these pregnancy exclusions in advance directive statutes are bad law but these advanced directive statutes in the first place only apply to patients who for which the same treatment can be withdrawn. ms. munoz is no longer a patient because she's dead. i don't think legislators

intended for the law to apply to a dead patient. >> the law itself, section 166.049 governoring pregnant patients as a person may not withdraw or withhold life sustaining treatment under this subchapter from a pregnant patient. why wouldn't the hospital be clear on this law and why it stands especially when one of the persons involved in writing the law says this is a misinterpretation. it sounds to me that this should have been clearly explained and clearly worded so that families are not faced with this awful situation as the munoz family is today. >> well, i definitely agree with that. i think that these laws should be -- they shouldn't be on the books at all in my opinion in terms of excludeing pregnant women from them. clearly it should be written that they do not apply to dead

patients. this is a tragic situation in which the family is essentially trapped because if ms. munoz were alive and able to make decisions on her own, she could decide to stop medical treatment but because she's not, she's unable to do that. and they are not able to make the decision for her. so it's just a bad situation all around for them. also i think these laws are unethical because they interfere with the private decisions between health care providers and their patients. now, the brain dead issue in this case i cannot speculate on. i have read that she is brain dead in reports. the hospital has not confirmed that. i think it's curious that the hospital has not come forward

and been more forthcoming about her condition. >> to your point, the hospital referred all requests for comment to the tarrant county d.a.'s office which says it's reviewing this lawsuit. texas is one of 12 states across a wide political spectrum that have these laws that automatically invalidate a pregnant woman's advance health directive so in this case with ms. munoz, her husband says she didn't want to be on life support. it's not in writing. it is not in a will here. here's an issue of a family versus state. >> absolutely. what these laws do is i think -- by the way, there are 31 states that have some form of these laws. 12 of these states essentially say you cannot withhold life support from a pregnant patient no matter what the state of pregnancy. what these laws do is the state

lawmakers are making a decision and interfering with what should be a private decision between a woman, her physician and her family. what they also are doing is creating separate class of persons. women have a secondary status. they have second-class rights here in terms of what they can do under these statutes. if they become pregnant, they are not able to have their living wills followed or have their family makes decisions for them as other people can. >> let me get you to hang on here. i want to get kendall in. there's a statement from texas alliance for life. the unborn child should be recognized as a separate person even if she were brain dead. i would favor keeping treatments going to allow the child to continue to survive with the hope that the child could be delivered alive.

the bottom line is this is state of texas versus this family. >> well and of course as was just described, many states have these laws. some of them probably have some of the same kind of ambiguity that this law has. it has to be an agonizing frustration to this. what irreversible cessation which is death and irreversible condition. all of which could lead up to constitutional question. if a woman were healthy and alive, there's no doubt she would have the constitutional right to terminate a pregnant in these circumstances. given the fact that she lacks cognitive power but there are individuals, loving individuals, who are apparently unanimous, the husband and the parents in wishing to speak for her, why wouldn't they have the same constitutional right expressing

her will to say this pregnancy should be terminated. very little case law on it. this could be an important court decision if it plays out in coming weeks. >> absolutely important not just as you point out but in other states where similar laws exist. i'm also intrigued by the fact that the tarrant county district attorney is saying that they will file a response in due course here. listen, every day matters obviously to this family now and legally obviously they have to follow course but one would think for this family and the grief that there would be some expedited decision or movement here. >> you're absolutely right. this should be treated as an extreme emergency in so many respects for so many reasons. so i hope this isn't in due course. i hope this is as fast as humanly possible in terms of reaching the issues. >> kendall coffey, thank you very much. katherine, thank you for your time as well. we'll continue to follow this

story. still ahead, a highly unusual freedom of speech debate. this involves a trend that i don't think a lot of you heard of because i only heard of it recently as well because we don't peruse youtube for rap videos. bragging about alleged crimes, in some cases alleged homicide, videos used as part of high profile cases against some alleged dangerous gang members but why are some progressives defending them and fallout from west virginia chemical spill is far from over. a third state now testing the water for its people, its citizens. we'll have the very latest. an is a blank canvas. [ woman #2 ] to share a moment. [ woman #3 ] to travel the world without leaving home. [ male announcer ] whatever the reason. whatever the dish. make it delicious with swanson. as a police officer, i've helped many people

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and frisk. now another tactic used by officers is also under fire. rap videos. this has sparked a debate over free speech and is even the subject of a case being taken up by the new jersey supreme court. officers and even prosecutors are increasingly using videos posted online. places like youtube to examine gang culture and in particular gang rivalries. they are also using them to build their case over time. "the new york times" published a look at how nypd is using the tactic in writing the police department's interest in music video coincides with patrol strategy as the department deemphasizes stop and frisk tactics, street officers will pursue longer term investigations against neighborhood gangs particularly the youth gangs known as crews or sets. the article mentions one instance where investigators used a single video to build a

case against 11 different gang members. joining me live, david goodman and michael is an msnbc contributor. neither are rappers but are interested in this. michael, i want to start with you. you have been talking about this on your show for a while. i'm intrigued that here you have a broad spectrum of listeners but many in the midwest, i would imagine, and certainly people you would not suspect to be intrigued or even defending some of these rappers. >> you won't be surprised to hear that yesterday when i shared with my radio audience some of the 13 pages of rap lyrics that were read for the new jersey jury in that skynyrd case, that's the one you were referring to, a number of people called and based on what they heard in the lyrics they said, my god, he must be guilty. that's the whole point of the appeal really. the well was poisoned because when jurors hear the rap lyrics totally out of context, they

take it as autobiographical and hold the defendant accountable even though it's performance art. i don't think they should be admitted unless it tells a story directly related to that crime like an admission. >> michael, what we see police departments and they're precisely following what you point out. trying to uncover whether some of these videos and some of the lyrics and things posted online are in fact not tales but the truth. we're not talking 50 cent talking about a past life or past gunfight. they portray events that have happened or are about to happen. >> i think that's good police work. that's not the same as admitting into evidence that material and trying to get a conviction based on it. i think that police would be derelict in their duty if that

material is on youtube and they don't watch it. i think that would be an error. >> an intriguing story. i grew up in the story of hip-hop rap community and have been at odds for a number of reasons. but this prosecution based on some of this music that has been posted, a lot of people say this is a free speech issue. it's also a profile issue. >> i think what's interesting and what we point out in the article is that this reflects a broad shift in the way that the nypd has sort of approached street crime in a post-stop and frisk era beginning under ray kelly where they created a program called operation crew cut to go after youth gangs and one thing youth gangs are doing is posting about exploits online and as we point out in the article, youth gangs have

rappers at the center of them or attached describing their activities. what's different about this from days of nwa is metabolism is greater online now so that whereas once it might have taken weeks or months or years to get the tales of the street into the studio in front of listeners, now you have artists recording almost immediately after events have happened. some of the artists that we reference who are currently under indictment for their activities related to gangs and conspiracy indictments connected to real crimes, shootings, murders, they at least in one case have gotten out and then written songs about that time and it's already online. the speed of this is just much different now. >> what about those who say quite honestly if you are dumb enough to sing about it on youtube and it's a real crime that you committed in realtime, then for a number of reasons you should be behind bars and your performance art is nothing more than you are bragging about a

homicide and that information should be used to put you behind bars if you are a danger. >> right. i think as other guest pointed out, the police are exploiting all of the information out there. they talk about social media being their best informant and these music videos are no different. i think it's more nuance than a rapper saying i shot this person. it just normally doesn't happen. it's more they are in a group saying this is my group and these are members or appearing in video with people that police can say they are together because they said they were. >> that was a big deal in the '80s and '90s with gang tattoos. they would have laws of gang tattoos used to link individuals who if you ask is this part of your crew or set, they would say no but tattoo linked them for life and many times life behind bars. >> these guys that we have talked to a couple of them who are -- their perspective is this

is their art and they're being criminalized by being linked to friends. they grew up in a tough neighborhood. friends are not on the up and up and just because my friend did this doesn't mean that it should fall down on me. one of the managers for two artists we spoke to called it a double edge sword. you have to get your videos out there online so that you get fame. that's how you make it in the music business but police are watching to see are you telling us stuff that we're going to use against you. >> quickly as an attorney and talk host, this is intriguing to you for a number of reasons which fascinates me. as a lawyer is this the kind of case you would love to get in the courtroom and really battle over? >> it is. i don't think there can be hard and fast rules that are drawn because truly every one of these videos and songs presents a different set of circumstances. there are also some racial implications to this because we tend to focus on black artists and nobody is talking about eric clapton having shot the sheriff.

that needs to be factored in. >> we know he didn't do it because it was the deputy. all right. thank you very much. i think that's the lyric. thank you. trying to get out of this intense conversation on a lighter note. thank you. still ahead, not a lighter note for chris christie. a new round of subpoenas expected tomorrow in the new jersey bridge scandal. we'll have the latest on what christie faces next and talk to a columnist who says the governor is seeking forgiveness but won't confess his sins and the family of a 12 year old accused of shooting two students at a new mexico middle school just released a statement. we'll have the latest. througho. one a day men's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age. with 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day men's 50+.

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ask your doctor about lyrica today. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. yeah. everybody knows that. did you know there is an oldest trick in the book? what? trick number one. look-est over there. ha ha. made-est thou look. so end-eth the trick. hey.... yes.... geico. fifteen minutes could save you... well, you know. subpoenas are expected to go out tomorrow to governor chris christie's former deputy chief of staff. a spokesperson and other aides. all of them are named in documents related to the lane closures near the george

washington bridge. in acknowledging the scandal in his state of the state address yesterday, governor christie made the only headline even though he only mentioned it in the first two minutes of his speech. papers throughout new jersey focus more on his apology rather than the agenda he outlined. the scandal may have taken away from what the governor calls one of his proudest achievements. >> no state in this country has shown more bipartisan cooperation and governance over the last four years than new jersey and our people are proud of it. >> as our first read team notes, today even if nothing else is uncovered, it's now much harder to play the bipartisan card. joining me now by phone, new jersey star ledger columnist. thanks for joining us again. >> thanks for having me. >> you always have an interesting perspective. you have written chris christie's seeks forgiveness but don't confess his sins. tomorrow is a big day with spthe subpoenas.

what do you expect to happen? >> i think some of these people are going to turn state's evidence here although probably not before the committee because the committee can't give them the sort of immunity from federal charges and so forth that would permit them to testify. so when they do call these people, i suspect a lot of taking of the fifth and the real action will probably happen on the federal level with the investigation there. >> let me quickly play what bill maher said yesterday on "hardball" with chris matthews. interesting viewpoint on how this is playing out for christie. >> i also don't think this is going to be a scandal that will affect him negatively with the people in his own party. he keeps saying i'm not a bully. sure he's a bully. that's what they like about him is that he's a bully. if he's not a bully, who he is? he's just lamar alexander. in every state they'll like chris christie. this is not the disaster for him that people think it is. >> what are your thoughts on that?

you look at the new polling out when it comes to honesty and being trustworthy. 51% say his numbers when you look across the board are still very decent for a governor and certainly someone with so much national attention. >> that's the problem. the national attention. as these charges come out and revelations of what was actually going on, all that national attention is going to be focused on those charges and that's really a problem for him. he should have back in december got this out of the way. he should have dealt with it back when the executive director of the port authority testified december 9th there was no study. christie up until last week was still saying he believed there was a study which is just nonsense. it was a sham study and he knows it. if in december he had dealt with it and put a cap on it, it would go away. the problem he's got now is it's going to keep coming out and coming out and his big argument

is electability. he's not an ideological guy, liberal conservative. he's an electable guy. when you had jimmy fallon with bruce springsteen that kills his electability. if he loses the electability thing, i don't know how he makes his big move nationally. >> we'll see what happens with the next big move, subpoenas that could be issued tomorrow. thank you for your time. this year's governor's race in texas is getting a lot of national attention. today after the two leading candidates reported some eye popping fund-raising numbers. democratic candidate wendy davis reports raising $12.2 million over the last six months. meantime, republican candidate texas attorney general greg abbott reports raising 11.5 million over the same period.

abbott reports $27 million cash in the bank for his campaign while davis did not announce cash on hand. will davis compete against abbott's huge war chest? beyond the amount of money being brought in, it's where the money is coming from as well, mark. much of his money at this point coming from texas. hers nationally. >> i think the numbers show that wendy davis will be competitive when it comes to money. both sides will spend tons of money on tv ads in houston, dallas or san antonio. wendy davis' biggest challenge is whether she can make up political disadvantage that democrats face in the state of texas. barack obama only got 41% of the vote in texas in 2012 presidential contest. that was a good democratic year. when democrats look ahead to 2014, a lot of them are bracing

themselves for a worse political environment than 2012. that's wendy davis' challenge. she'll be fine on money. whether she can get votes to be competitive against greg abbott is the big question. >> we're native texans and talk that what people see as opportunity for democrats to really in the near future turn texas purple what do you make as it relates to wendy davis and what smoke signals her race may be sending out regarding that? >> she's going to have the money to compete and get her message out and get out the vote operations going. she also has the ability to energize democrats and that's the thing that you and i have seen over the past several months since wendy davis had that filibuster on abortion rights on that legislation that was being considered in texas. so she does have an energetic base. for democrats going forward and whether it's 2014, whether it's 2016, or 2020, being able to get demographic voters out to the polls and getting them registered for future contests,

that's the main democratic objecti objective. may not doing it in 2014 or 2016 but the big latino population and being able to have folks register for future elections is the big challenge. >> thank you. we'll see you tomorrow. >> thanks. still ahead -- >> this is your life. one mistake and it can be taken away. >> a real life story of redemption. cuba gooding, jr., here to talk about his new movie. an ex-con that used the game of chess to help teenagers in tough neighborhoods. season after s, no matter the occasion... your home's the place everyone gathers. so be ready with a stouffer's lasagna. it's the mouthwatering recipe that keeps them coming back. stouffer's. made with care for your family. of their type 2 diabetes with non-insulin victoza®. for a while, i took a pill to lower my blood sugar,

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to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. welcome back. the life of chess is often credited with giving people self-control. that's what happened with a man serving an 18-year prison sentence. he turned his life around and

used the game to impact the lives of inner city children helping to learn life lessons he learned the hard way. his story is being brought to the big screen with the help of an academy award winner. >> mr. brown, would you mind doing me a quick favor. >> everybody have a seat. >> are you a tough guy? >> do you want to find out? >> these kids see that easy money is the only way out. i don't blame them for thinking that way. everyone on the board is here on the reason for one reason and one reason only. to protect the king. >> eugene brown along with the actor that plays him, cuba gooding, jr. thank you for joining. >> you're so cute. >> thank you. >> eugene, hey! >> you're so cute too. making it equal there.

>> the man. i love it. >> how does it feel to have your life on the big screen and this story finally being told? >> i didn't know i looked that good. >> she said that. >> very nice. you look wonderful and your life story is even better. 18 years robbing a bank. how did you turn your life around. that's a simple question with a complex answer. always using chess. >> well, one of the biggest things i came from a two-parent family and i was habiltitated. >> you were not hardened by 18 years in a place that nobody wants to be, i hope. >> well, what was really instilled in me about the whole game was the fact that i was the

king. i was responsible for every decision that was made not only on the board but in life in general. that was the real cornerstone of me turning my life around. >> you're about to have -- you're moving in with what the story is about being the king. when you think about a lot of the young black boys in the inner city who feel that they are not kings, so what they do is pick up a gun. they join a gang so they can feel tough or feel important or powerful. this movie resonates on so many levels. >> it's overwhelming for me because it's the first time i heard eugene talk more than one sentence. we didn't meet until the last day of filming on the movie. i knew his character was that of nobility and strength and endurance and these are characteristics i portrait in films before. so to have my suspicions

confirmed by hearing him speak today, i knew that i was on the right road. you're right. i think it is very important for our young men and women, especially in the inner cities, to see men like eugene brown and know that he can be a role model and they don't have to only look to professional athletes or movie stars. they can look at men who have, you know, been incarcerated and got out and been a positive person in the community. >> i was at a golden globes where a certainly wonderful movie should have been discussed a lot being "the butler." stories that come out of hollywood, many are diverse. you hear the argument they are not enough. you managed to build a successful career showing depth as you pointed out. showing heroes and being charming and funny as well. how have you navigated to make sure that some of these stories like eugene's are brought to life? >> i think it was just natural progression of things if you realize that we have an

african-american president and people especially foreigners want to know how that could happen in this country. so now they are curious about our contribution in history. so when i get a script that tells another page of african-americans contribution, that's something that i go after. be it, you know, just ben carson neurologist. james robert radio kennedy. there are african-americans throughout history who have done great things from humble beginnings. >> is it a charmed life you're living? >> i think so, yeah. i get paid. i get paid. checks are cashed. >> eugene, i have to ask you. with teaching chess, i never played. confession. never played chess. so we have to get you in and with cuba maybe we can have a game of chess to celebrate and teach me focus and discipline because april loose on that. >> you're playing chess now. >> no.

no. >> yes, you are. any time you make decisions, you're playing chess. >> fantastic. i am the queen and the king. i'll take that. thank you so much, sir. congratulations on the success. i'm so happy to see it on the big screen and i hope that people see the inspiration that is there. thank you so much. again, you founded big chair chess club. a shout-out to that. >> cuba, when are you coming to d.c.? >> soon, sir. we'll screen the movie for wherever you want to watch it. we'll go eat. we won't play chess because i know you'll whoop my butt. >> thank you so much. we'll be right back. i mean, look at it. so indulgent. did i tell you i am on the... [ both ] chicken pot pie diet! me too! [ male announcer ] so indulgent, you'll never believe they're light. 100-calorie progresso light soups.

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time for "news nation" gut check. some elderly patrons are getting in trouble for spending several hours hanging out at a mcdonald's restaurant in new york city. so the restaurant is reportedly fed up with the seniors congregating there and lingering

for hours after placing only a small order. so lately the restaurant managers have been telling the seniors they have 20 minutes to finish their food and then they have to get out. the restaurant has even called the police several times on the senior citizens in recent months to keep them moving it along. so what does your gut tell you? should there be a time limit on how long people can sit at fast food restaurants? go to newsnation.msnbc.com to cast your vote. of course there shouldn't be a time limit. the vote is over. i just said it. "the cycle" is up next. an irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. that puts jim at a greater risk of stroke. for years, jim's medicine tied him to a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but now, with once-a-day xarelto jim's on the move. jim's doctor recommended xarelto.

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numbers are moving. >> from the state of the state to the state of the union. i'm krystal ball. president obama makes his first political trip of the year and today he sent the republicans a little postcard. >> how sweet. the college course you could die waiting to get into. how one professor is using the idea of death to bring new meaning to life. >> all of that plus the year in preview. i'm abby huntsman from the world stage to the world cup. what to expect in 2014 and i predict a krystal ball joke. chris christie is laying low today after his major state of the state address yesterday but investigations into his aides conduct continues. any officials necessary will be subpoenaed and discussions about whether to subpoena christie himself were premature. despite the controversy,